Imperial Treasures Super Peking Duck @ Paragon

Taking a break from Melaka for a while to introduce some local food.

Right now, I'm pondering how to make my blog different.... it's like every other food critique thingy that everyone has already written tons of years ago. And my blog isn't even funny like mrbrown, or sexy like xiaxue, or polished like (other food blogs); I'm not even using a DSLR!

Anyway, give me any ideas you have. Right now, what I think I'll do is just to provide very honest and down-to-earth thoughts.

Today (Saturday), our family decided to go to Imperial Treasures Super Peking Duck at Paragon for dinner. We have been here a number of times and have even gotten to be good acquaintances with the servers, such that we can get a table even at the last minute. In fact, we just called in the afternoon for the 7.30 pm table - under usual circumstances, it's fully booked.

Imperial Treasures is quite established in Singapore already, with quite a number of branches around here, some famous for Xiao Long Bao; an equivalent to them would be Crystal Jade. This branch that we patronised in Paragon is supposedly famous for Peking Duck, and almost every table would serve that. I guess it would be very weird if you go there and NOT order the duck.

My attempts at some facade shots... it's quite a classy restaurant, though don't get the wrong view, it's not classy to the point of Joel Bucheron-type. It's busy and noisy with porcelain-ware clanking and mindless chatter, normal Chinese-restaurant feel.

We ordered the  Peking Duck (but of course), like everyone else. It's a whole duck! They roast it back in the kitchen and present it next to you. And they slice the piping hot duck right in front of you.

There's some custom to eating the duck. The chef will first cut out the most crispy skin for you- it's just 1 slice, 1 very small slice.

You're supposed to dip this small piece into sugar and eat it.

The sugar and sweet sauce is already served right in front of you.I'm not too sure about the reason behind this custom (anyone can help me out?). I guess it's supposed to really help you taste the crisp of the skin, to savour the roast.

After which, they will strip the meat out of the duck, mostly from the duck drumstick and breast. They cut out the meat with the skin, so you can savour the crisp and meat together -yummy!

Of course, there's the customary flour-skin, cucumber and spring onions that you can use to wrap your duck meat/skin in.

For people who have never ate Peking duck, here's some instructions for you to help you out.

1. Put the flour skin on the plate

2. Put a piece of cumcumber

3. Put the spring onion (in some other restaurant, the spring onion are cut to look like flowers!)

4. Put some sweet black sauce.

5. Wrap it up and eat it!

Here's a sample of how you put them together (before wrapping).

One duck can actually yield quite a lot of meat - 2 generous plates in fact. One lean (above) and the other fatty (below). 

You can't be cheated actually. The chef prepares the duck right in front of you so you can scrutinize whether they had stripped it well. 

However, it's not the end. The duck will be sent back to the kitchen for further 'stripping'! What the chef has done is to just cut the meatier pieces. The most challenging pieces will be sent back to the kitchen for removal. It's quite worth it.. you get a lot from the duck. The remains of the duck will be diced and fried with onions and fried flour to be served later.

The price of the Peking duck is SGD$68. It's quite worth it actually. You get good service, and the duck is prepared very well. It's a big duck so it can comfortably feed 5 people. You even get a second dish free where the duck is further stripped of all the remaining meat and fried.

And this is the second dish - duck floss. You don't need to pay extra for this, it's part of the $68 package. We got about 5 portions of this from the 'leftover' duck. Of course, if you have more people, I think they will portion it out so everyone can have a taste.

For a family of 4, the duck alone already filled us quite up. However, we didn't just end there. We ordered some high ticketed items as well since it was the last weekend before the New Year and we wanted to pamper ourselves.

We ordered some shark-fins soup boiled in chicken soup. It was really tasty. The soup was very flavourful - boiled until the collagen from the chicken bone seeped into the soup. The fins was the authentic kind, thick and crisp, tangy and observable - not fishy at all. If you want some great quality shark-fins, this is it! (sorry to those against consumption of shark-fins).

This is not cheap - it was $54 per bowl.

We also ordered Steamed Soon Hock in Soya Sauce. By this time, we were really full so I would say I wouldn't be doing justice by reviewing the fish. But it's good as well. The meat was steamed well - at the correct temperature so the meat isn't too rubbery or too soft. Most importantly, it was fresh and not fishy.

The fish wasn't cheap either - $63. Fish experts should know Soon Hock is never cheap, but it's good quality fish in restaurants. You almost wouldn't get it wrong by ordering it steamed. The fried version is also tasty but it's quite a waste because you'll lose the unique texture of Soon Hock - it becomes very soft like dory.

For being such loyal customers, we were given a plate of fruits for free! Nothing special to mention about though - they're just fruits; mango, water-melon, and papaya.

Don't forget to order the famous Custard Bun 流沙包! For the uninitiated, it's a bun that has liquid custard inside it. The liquid custard inside is really hot so be careful while eating it. The bun is served piping hot.
What happens is that frozen pieces of custard (flavored with salted egg yolk) is wrapped over by bun flour. When the buns are ordered, the chef steams them on the spot and serves it quickly. Hence, what you get is a hot liquid flowing the bun. If you peel open the bun, the custard will literally flow out all over the table.

After eating (and slurping the liquid out), this is what you'll see. The yellow is the custard.

You can more of the liquid custard inside.

This is really a tasty dessert. The custard is both salty and sweet, so it confuses your senses as to whether it's savory or sweet. The mixture is a delicate balance at teasing your palate - you'll allow the liquid custard to dance throughout your tongue, pleasuring your taste buds. It's a challenge to slurp the piping hot liquid without scalding your tongue too, yet you want to enjoy it. I can't describe it well, but this is one rare savoury dessert that is enjoyable.

As loyal customers, we got this complimentary too. But I don't think it's expensive.

Verdict:

Peking Duck - YAY, of course! I think the restaurant deserves the title of Super Peking Duck. I have tried many Peking ducks in Singapore, but nowhere is it served that tasty in Singapore, although I haven't tried the real one in Beijing. Most restaurants don't serve the meat out and charge you for a second dish prepared with the meat. Imperial Treasures not only serve out all the visible meat, but they prepare the remaining meat into another delicious dish. The skin is prepared really well though - crispy and fresh. The unique way of eating allows you two different way to appreciate this skin. The duck is served piping hot and fresh from the oven! And the meat is tender and juicy. I would highly recommend this duck - you get many different ways of tasting. At $68, it can be a meal on its own among at least 5 people (with rice), so it's worth it.

As for the rest:

Shark-fins soup in chicken soup: Hmm... I'll leave it to your own decision since it's not cheap. You get what you pay for, I think.

Steamed Soon Hock in soya sauce: Similarly, it is tasty, but I don't rate it as outstanding. I think you can get the same quality in other similar class restaurants. Nothing special that I feel obliged to rate a big yay.

Custard Bun: YAY! You must try it. It's akin to the dessert version of Xiao Long Bao. The complex taste of savoury and sweet in a bun, and it can only be eaten freshly steamed (otherwise the liquid custard would be absorbed by the bun skin). The custard is richly flavoured with the tingling taste of salted egg yolk... guaranteed freshly prepared. And it's not that expensive.. who knows? You may get it complimentary too!